Visiting the Beamer\Belle horses

 I had a bit of a getaway this past weekend. And of course, it  included  was mostly about horses. I spent a wonderful couple hours with the good folks who have , over the years, bought 6 of my horses. 

Here they are in all their beauty. 

First off- all the Beamer babies.

For all the Rio fans out there:

He is massive! I think right around 16 hh and probably 13 - 1400 lbs. He has carried his owner  through a lot of events, from 4 H  to barrels and roping and ranch work. He was a flag bearer horse in the Calgary Stampede last year. The young lady who owns him has had plenty of offers on him, but he is not going anywhere. The brand on his shoulder is their brand, some of them also carry the DLH brand. 

Then there is Kai- he is the steady Eddie of the group, the favourite uncle to the young horses who keeps them calm. He is Alana's horse and it is pretty obvious that he loves her. 

Kai is built more stocky than Rio, but he too is a big strong horse. he has won high point in gaming for Alana, and her daughter has used him as a heading horse. He's a big gentle soul. 

They sold Nitro, and I found out that he is now the mount for a 16 year old high school student who team ropes in the High School Rodeos with him, and they are a perfect match. I am trying to find out who his current owner is as I would love to watch them at work. 

Then there is Josie... what a beauty she is!

The one I should have kept... but she has been a really good horse for Kevin, this year she won 2 buckles for him at rodeos, she is a heeling horse in the team roping. Josie is 11 this year. she is not a Belle daughter, her dam was Chickory who is now raising foals for her current owner.

I would love to do a breed lease on Josie if he ever decides to retire her from roping. 

The next horse is a Beamer/Belle son. This was Belle's last Beamer baby, and he is another one I probably should have kept, he and Josie are the two Beamers that literally took my breath away. 

This is Derby. 

Derby is 3 this year and he is already a big boy like his brothers. 

He is another member of the Big Butt club! I think it's safe to say that the Beamer/Belle cross produced outstanding individuals. 

Next up is Minx.

Kevin likes the cross so much that he bought Minx, who is a daughter of the full sister to all those boys. You would know her as Sparkle from my posts on this blog, she was Belle's first foal. Minx was sired by a 16 hh grey Playgun bred stallion. She has the same quiet and trainable mind as her uncles and they really like her. She will be grey. 

This is Kai and Minx:

I think she will have a good size to her as well; Kai is 15.3 hh. Minx is only 2 and has a lot of growing to do yet. 

Then there is Pistol; he was the buckskin foal from Belle and sired by Rollin In My Dually, she was in foal with him when I bought her back from Fleetwood Farms. 

Pistol is another big soggy gelding rope horse for Kevin, and he's doing very well with him. Pistol has a bit of a different look to him than the Beamer sons.  Kevin loves him and says he will never part with him either. 

Knowing that the horses I raised are so valued by their owners, and that they have become excellent performance horses is all a person could ask for when it comes to raising horses. I have been blessed in this venture over the years. Finding a family who kept buying them and promoting them and loving them is all I could ever ask for. 

Oh, and one more thing- knowing that they are all happy, healthy horses. 

Derby💖 He got Beamer's head but Belle's ears

It was great to visit and catch up with them. I am going to try to get to one of their ropings so I can get some photos of them in action. If not this year then maybe next year!

Updates

 Got a couple of updates for you on the Diamond Lazy H horses. 

Remember Midnight Mesa? She has been resold to a young family and is doing great! Not the greatest photos but all I can get. She apparently instantly loved her new people. Mom rides her sorting cattle and daughter is doing leadline gymkhana on her.

Just another Beamer kid teaching a young 'un!

Mesa's original buyer wanted to do cutting and Mesa didn't like it. But apparently she likes sorting. 

Then there is a Derby update:

The lady who bought him as a stallion prospect decided to put him up for sale as she just wasn't clicking with him. And I'm happy to say, that he will be joining his brothers! Yup, he was sold to the young lady who owns and rides Rio, and will be living with Rio, Kai, Josie and Pistol. I am so happy that the Perrott family likes the DLH horses enough to have bought 6 of them over the years! I don't have any current photos of him, hopefully I will be able to go to Alberta this summer and get photos of him with his siblings. 

I decided that Jayne can be turned out with Sophie during the day, and back in her pen at night. That way they are both likely to get more exercise. Sure enough, Sophie took it upon herself to herd Jayne around right away!

Early morning/low light cell phone photo- sorry!

I included that photo because it shows that s'picious bump on Sophie! I actually hope she isn't in foal!

Had to throw in at least one decent photo....

or two, for my Jayne update. 

Jayne will not only be going to live with Shayla, she will be owned by her too! I decided to gift her to Shayla, partly because it is such a great home for her to live out her days (she will be 20 this year), and partly to help Shayla get another mare with great bloodlines in her herd as she establishes herself as a breeder. And I know Shayla loves her! Such a sweet mare. 

New Derby pics!

His foal coat is starting to shed. That light colour will be all gone by the end of the summer.

He's a very typical Belle/Beamer Boy. Big, sturdy, and well proportioned.

Concho and Stetson are now in with Belle and Derby.

Mama mama she won't let me play with the new boy!

Quite the size difference between a 7 week old colt and a day old colt. They grow so fast!

Derby update

I don't have any new photos of Derby, but this one is one of my favourites.

Derby has been sold! He will go to Step In Time Performance Horses in Neilburg Saskatchewan. He will stay with Shayla until weaning time and then go to his new owner in September. He will be raised up as a stallion prospect for them- this is the third son of Belle slated to be used as a stallion, the other two being Moondance and a bay  colt sired by a full brother to Playgun that was born in Alberta when she was owned by Fleetwood Farms for a few years before I bought her back. 

I am super proud of Belle for the quality of foals that she consistently puts on the ground. We are waiting for confirmation by ultrasound of her next foal, who is sired by Root Beers Boots. Should have the results in a few days. 

Gussie will be headed to the same Stallion Station where Belle is, to be flushed and then bred to A Classic Guy  

Both those links have videos of the stallion at the bottom of the page, they are worth watching.

Not to be left out of mention- I am also super proud of Beamer for consistently throwing gorgeous babies! Update on Eli-  Last year I had a local farrier come and trim Moondance, and he loved him. Well, my friend who bought Eli decided that he was too darn big for her and sold him to that farrier. This guy is the one who I used as a farrier from the time I moved here 12 years ago until I started trimming my own horses, and he is familiar with Beamer and my mares, so I was pretty happy that a guy who sees hundreds of horses thought enough of my horses to want to own one. 

Derby photoshoot

I'm posting a Derby photoshoot that Shayla took because... well...

Nuthin' to see here folks! So, Betsy, Carol, Whisper, Aurora, Cdncowgirl, Leslie, Frank, Lvmyhrs, Grey Horse and Linda, you are all eligible to put in another guess. It should be soon because her bag is right full and the nipples are full too although she hasn't waxed yet.

So anyway, here are some delightful photos of Mr. Handsome #2! Thank you Shayla for the photos! The cover photo was one of them.

I deliberately over exposed this one in editing as I may do a pencil drawing of it.

He has lots of room to zoom!

Maybe he wants to be a Derby Horse!

He has his daddy's eye

He's got those long legs figured out!

1 point landing

Didya get all that?

Just like daddy...

While we wait

 Jayne is still holding her *ahem* filly hostage, so that means that Betsy in Wi, Carol, Far Side, Whisper, and Cdncowgirl can put in a new guess. 

I don't think baby has a lot more room to move in there!

Wide load!

I could see little flutters at the bottom center of her belly, and 2 nights ago Jayne was doing a lot of rolling, so I'm hoping baby is moving into the foaling position.

Meanwhile, Derby is getting his lessons figured out.

He looks good in green! That little halter should fit him for about 2 months. Yes he will grow into it in that time! I have 3 sizes of halters for the babies for the first 5 months of their lives.

You are doing great young feller!

The waiting game

Well.... no foal yet! That means Teresa A, Leslie, Grey Horse, Linda, and Betsy in Wi are eligible to put in another guess!  Meanwhile, there is this li'l rascal:

Derby is in getting his first halter lessons. 

Nuthin' to see here folks! She has not waxed yet.

I finished my hotwire pasture, we put in some permanent posts and I strung 3 strands of electric tape; this is now Beamer's turnout pen so I can have both horses in grassy turnout pens during the day.

Lookin' for Jayne

You can see the difference in the pens!. Beamer is very respective of fences, as I heat up even the wire, so if he is across the fence from another horse, he never pushes on the fence line.

But he still has to show off! Then the siren call of all that grass takes over;

Mmnomnomnom!

And so, the waiting continues!

Baby pics!

Derby you are so adorable!

Once again, mama Belle outdid herself. 

    

Love that little wrinkly nose! And that perfectly centered swirl which feathers out, a sign that he will be very friendly and easy to train.

Shayla found the perfect itchy spots 😊

Yes mama you did good!

Not a lick of white! Sometimes a solid colour is as eye catching as one with chrome. That black coat is going to live up to his name.

Sorry about the fuzzy photos, they are sent from an iPhone to an Android and then to my computer and sometimes the devices don't mesh. They look nice and clear on her phone!

Fuzzy or not, he sure is photogenic already! Shayla and Blake managed to get a hair sample today for his dna test. I hope he is homozygous black; I think he is a non fading black like Beamer. Moondance is a fading black.

Derby

Well my horse I picked to win the Derby didn't have a good trip but what a great story on the horse who won! I was going for Rock Your World, but he couldn't get out of the pack and get a clear run. The winner, Medina Spirit was bought for $1000 at the yearling sale- what an incredible race he ran! And competing against colts who sold for over a million bucks. Gotta love an underdog with Spirit- well named horse 😎

Speaking of Derby....

I would like you to meet DLH Durashine Peppy, aka Derby. 

Yup! Belle graced us with another colt on Kentucky Derby day. Interestingly enough, Belle's sire, Durable Shine, was also nicknamed Derby, so it is a fitting family name for this black colt- who has no white on him at all.

I have a bit of a dilemma as to the foaling contest as nobody got it really right. Carol was closest with day and time, and Frank had the closest guess of color and gender. So I think they both get a prize! 

At first I though smoky black, but I think he is just black like Moondance.

More pics and videos to come tomorrow as I am waiting for Shayla to email them. He is so adorable!